A valid idea...

I'm seriously considering making "The economy sucks, LET'S TOUR!" my mantra in 2010. Thinking about it, well over 50% of my income goes to paying my rent and utilities each month. If I were on tour that wouldn't be an issue, I could reach as many bands as possible and just couch surf around the country. I guess I could get used to editing on my laptop, put my stuff in storage come March, and just skedaddle. Warped Tour is looking like a realistic probability this year, and I'm already planning on SxSW taking up a chunk of my life in March. In the fall there's a chance I'll be heading out with another tour to work on a book... sooo I guess the question is, why should I pay rent on somewhere I won't be?
Stay tuned crime fighters. I'll keep you posted. I'm currently hanging out in the resort location of the Salt Lake City airport because my flight home was canceled. It's not looking good for flying standby, so here's hoping some seats open up on Emily's flight to Helena.

Last Minute iTunes gift suggestions

So it's Christmas on Friday and you forgot to get that special someone something special. Oh and they live across the country. Oh and you only have about $10 to spend. Crap. What do you do? Well here are my top eight iTunes giftable album suggestions. Why only eight? Because I have to pack for my trip home to Montana... chah. This is also mildly biased towards bands I may have worked with... yeah.

8. Goodnight Sunrise- "Stop, Drop, and Roll"
This EP makes me smile. Perfect for anyone you know who loves a good pop song with a little heart. It's also less than five bucks so you can't go wrong!

7. The Jakes- "Shake my Hand"
Simply put this EP is completely infectious. Seven perfect little songs for your loved one's digital stocking. $6.93 is all this album costs and I recommend it to anyone who loves a good indie rock pop song as much as I do.

6. This Providence- "Who are you Now?"
Who doesn't like dreamy tracks sung with an Aussie lilt? Buy this for your ex girlfriend that dumped you. Maybe she'll get the message.

5. Astronautalis- "Pomegranate"
For the dignified indie rapper in all of us. I got this album when it came out and it still hasn't left heavy rotation in my iTunes player. Andy has a way with words and rhythm that I've never been able to put my finger on. Trust me, even if you don't think you like hip hop, you will LOVE this.

4.We the Kings- "Smile Kid"
If you're bundling a couple albums together you might as well pick up "Smile Kid" for the Goodnight Sunrise fan on your list. This album's catchy and intricate, and if you buy the special edition on iTunes you get a free music video!

3. The Used- "Artwork"
Crunchy, dirty, growling, mean... what else would you expect?

2.fun.- "Aim and Ignite"
The only band on this list I haven't photographed, but not for lack of trying. This album is perfect. Their live show is perfect. It's all just perfect! "Aim and Ignite" gives me faith in music being good again. More bands need to do this right here.

1. Saint Motel- "For Play"
It shouldn't surprise you that Saint Motel came in at #1 in this list... even though it wasn't really in any particular order until this point. This EP wins because it gives you THE MOST bang for your buck of any EP in iTunes history. How you ask? It's the first album ever to feature a music video for each song on the EP. So not only do you get six fantastic sexy songs to dance to, you get six visual treats to feast your eyes on. If you get one EP on this list get this one. Do it.

Watch this.

This is ridiculous!

Blake & Sierra

I took some photos of Sierra and Blake from Versa Emerge while they were out here in LA writing for their new record. They are such amazing kids! I love hanging out with them, and can't wait to hear their new songs.

Oh Byron...

Going through old batches of photos making space on my hard drive and I stumbled upon this photo I shot of Byron. I made him stand in for the models during the Hide&Seek Clothing shoot in October. It makes me smile. One day I'm going to make prints out of all of these random photos of my friends, and cover my wall. Might go on my to do list while I'm home in Montana for two weeks avoiding snow and driving.

Stefan Toler

Stefan Toler
I met Stephan almost exactly a year ago in Palmdale California while he was playing a show with his old band Lower Definition. We'd been talking about doing promos for a while, so I drove out to see them play. He's since left Lower D to focus on school and moving in a different direction musically. He drove up from San Diego last week to hang out and take some photos. At the end of this shoot I made him sprint up our back alley like he was in the movie The Sandlot. The fact that he remembers that movie made me feel not quite as old.

Sleepy...

Today was a long day but a fun one. I photographed Call the Cops out of my house. I haven't done that for quite a while, but we made it work out really well. I'm excited to get started on editing them. After the shoot we went to one of my favorite Mexican places down the street and filled up on enchiladas and margaritas. I don't think I've laughed that hard at tour stories in a long time. Then we made it back to the house and ended the night with an acoustic singalong that we broadcast on my Stickam account. I forgot to take a screamer with the band so I'll have to make sure to do that at their show on Thursday when they play with Sugarcult at the House of Blues.
Tonight I'm taking it easy and catching up on some portraits I did of Stefan Toler last week and editing down the three hundred live photos I did of the Syncope Threshold last Tuesday.

Happy Birthday Andy...

Schemes...

Bleubird and I just finished up a very special video collaboration. I'll be releasing the magic on Sunday, so stay tuned to the blog, facebook, twitter, and other social networking for the debut.

A song for Thursday...

I feel like I should write something substantial... but I'm feeling more unmotivated. I rescheduled this whole week and it ended up all being rescheduled just enough to make me completely broke for Christmas. So I'm in a bummer mood listening to Astronautalis' album The Mighty Ocean & Nine Dark Theaters like it's my job. So here you go, I'm going to let Andy write this blog entry.

I'm pretty sure a lot of these lyrics are wrong, but it was the closest I could find on the interwebs.

Skeleton (Everyone's Favorite) by Astronautalis

You’re very beautiful he whispered at the girl on the beach
It’s amazing how the days will slip away from you and unfurl in a week.
She didn’t speak or even smile in reply
Repeated it again but the words just swallowed all the words alive
Sand pipers chasing the torn paper edges of the waves
Another just of wind that paints her hair across her puzzled face
One of these days he’s gonna escape and change the world
Come back to his hometown with a trophy and a girl
A girl like this with soft hands and a wise kiss
She’ll teach him how to dance and dance her fingertips across her lips
But this, this is just another awkward pause, a pretty pair of eyes
Uncomfortable in front of all his flaws.
He feels himself going bald in little bits and patches
He used to spell out “love” in them but now the letters come out all backwards.
His pants never fit him right anymore, forgotten how to cook,
He used to take the room and run but now he’s happy with the second look

Pardon me miss, could you blow me a kiss?
Last night a couple lovers tossed each other off that bridge.
I think I better just call it all quits,
I used to run this town but it just ain’t the same place that it ever was.

He cut his finger just yesterday (tracing slitter on a red?)
and watched it drain into the sink the only thing that’s left
a fingertip dripped down and drew another half a pint into a perfect portrait
of himself. Subtle beauty and still life.
Everyone asked him, “Oh, what happened to your hand?”
“It’s just another accident cutting vegetables, I guess.”
Everything’s a trap these days; we’re all working to defend
No one ever thinks of a story just take the hit and bang out the dents?
You don’t know why he’s standing here or how he got this far running up the beach
And out of reach, a running rusted car.
The waves are louder than a train, crashing down upon his chest
He can’t be dragged down like the rest and wait patient just for his death.
Taking off his hat he steps and brushes her hair away
Kisses her cheek gently and asks her for her name.
She bows her head and smiles at feet and takes his shaky hand
He has no idea just what she said over the waves crashing in his head.

Pardon me miss, could you blow me a kiss?
Last night a couple lovers tossed each other off that bridge.
I think I better just call it all quits,
I used to run this town but it just ain’t the same place that it ever was.

Pardon me miss, could you blow me a kiss?
Last night a couple lovers tossed each other off that bridge.
I think I better just call it all quits,
I used to run this town but it just ain’t the same place that it ever was.

Greg and AJ... times three

Happy Holidays from Saint Motel

There's a reason these guys are my favorites.

Saint Motel for the Holidays

This was a fun night...

Fellow

Fellow

Johanna
This duo is called Fellow. Jake and Johanna are also husband and wife and we followed up this band shoot with a wedding session. I love how everything from this day came out! We photographed in Visalia and all the parks were shedding leaves. It didn't look at all like California.

Glamour Kills ad in AP

This ran as a two page ad in the January issue of Alternative Press. I photographed Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low during their set at the Fort Lauderdale stop of the Glamour Kills Tour. I don't think I've ever been this nervous to take a photo. They stopped playing, brought up the house lights, and I ran out on stage as Alex posed while the crowd was screaming so loud I couldn't hear myself think! Talk about a high stress work place. Thanks to Kris, Courtney, Matt, Kyle, Marky and everyone who helped make this photo happen!

If you haven't seen it, see it.

Wired had this amazing making of video for The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I can't imagine what working on that film must have been like! If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you do, it's incredible!

More video magic...

If you've ever been curious about how grand Saint Motel are live you can watch an entire concert over at JVTV Online! Definitely a great way to pump a bit of music into your Friday. What are you waiting for? Click HERE now!

See an Exclusive Behind-the-scenes Video from This Providence!

I shot all the footage in this behind the scenes video from the This Providence for Keeping on Without You. I gave it to Luga and Christian and they polished it and made it into this jem that is now on Seventeen.com!

See an Exclusive Behind-the-scenes Video from This Providence!

Posted using ShareThis

Are you KIDDING me?!

This puppy is up on Petfinder.com. He's a Cocker Spaniel Boston Terrier mix! CUTEST THING EVER OH MY SWEET GOD! I need to volunteer at a shelter or something.

Sometimes I find these things...

Every once and a while I poke around on the websites and blogs of my friends. Before I know it I'm watching amazingly ridiculous videos of my friends Andy (Astronautalis) and Jacques (Bleubird)...

astronautalis mr. blessington's from alex saavedra on Vimeo.

clean yo' plate! bleubird and astronautalis celebrate thanksgiving from alex saavedra on Vimeo.

One day we'll travel and make a book about cats...

Amazing...

And there you have it...

More exciting things I can't yet talk about!

I was just hired to shoot a super conceptual project with an amazing band! I'm super excited, it's been in the works since way back in May, and I can't wait to see it finally come to fruition.
We're going to be building sets, using a lot of composite techniques, and some crazy lighting. I'm definitely going to be doing another behind the scenes doc for it. Just goes to show how much patience plays into the game. This will be really fun!

WTF

Ok Go's new video makes me smile a ridiculous amount. I can't wait for their new album!

If Work Permits

The Format- If Work Permits

So the wind that blows across your room
Carried cheap perfume onto your dresser
It rained for jewelry and for credit cards
Two tickets to a film I don't remember
One day you'll kiss your rabbits nose, pick up the phone
To find I've been turned over
And you'll grab that piece of gold
Only to find that the smell has taken over
Now all the things you had, they aren't the same...
As what you hold

I'm standing in a room,
It's filled with older folks pleading "baby listen"
And I scream as loud as anyone,
But when asked to make a point I tend to whisper
Now highways turn to tidal waves
They're asking me to export all of your insecurities
But that wind that blows across your room
It's gonna set the sails, and send me back to you

Sometimes, when sailors are sailing
They think twice, about where they're anchoring
And I think, I could make better use of my time on land
I'll drink less
'cause lord knows I could use a warm kiss
Instead of a cold goodbye
I'm writing the folks back home to tell them
"Hey I'm doing alright"

It's a shame what your father did to your brothers head
He smashed it with a telephone
And your mother got scared and locked the door
You were only four, but lord you remember it
So now you're scared of love
I'm here to tell you loves not some fucking blood on the receiver
Love is speaking in code
It's an inside joke
Love is coming home

Sometimes, when sailors are sailing
They think twice, about where they're anchoring
And I think, I could make better use of my time on land
I'll drink less
'cause lord knows I could use a warm kiss
Instead of a cold goodbye
I'm writing the folks back home to tell them
"Hey I'm doing alright"

Yeah I'm doing just fine
And if she seems as lonely as me.....
Let her sink.
Let her sink.
Let her

More fun.

When I was on Warped my friend Kristine asked if I could do behind the scenes photos on this video... I am SO ridiculously bummed I was out of town. Mom you should watch this. I think you'd dig this band.

Rewards...

This week is non stop meetings, phone calls, shoots, booking more shoots, shooting shows, doing interviews, interviewing for a job that I'm not sure I want as much as I need it, phone calls to agencies... I'm running on fumes. So after we interviewed and photographed The Jakes tonight, I rewarded myself by putting my camera in my bag and just watched Fun's set. No pictures, no working, just watching. I love the little things some nights. Their set was so perfect and intimate, it brought me right back to a full tank, and I'm ready to attack the rest of the week.
Hey my birthday is on Tuesday... I totally forgot. Here's my wishlist of nerdy books I guess. I also want a Boston Terrier, and a pair of Toms shoes... and... um... a hug?

Dabe had another sitting...

Dabe Allen, had another sitting for his photography geek sleeve and did another time lapse. This is just so damn cool!

What a weekend...

Dear Saint Motel,
Why are you so damn much fun?
Love,
Megan.

Ugh.

Today nearly killed me. I just got home at 1:30am, and left the house at 6:45am to drive to Visalia.
So that roughly equals a 19 hour work day with 7 hours of it spent driving in the car. Did I mention that I did all of it on 3 hours of sleep... I would like to sleep forever, but I don't see that happening as Bassett and I have to pick up Stu Brown from Pasadena tomorrow at around 8am and take him to breakfast... Then I have to edit about a million Hide&Seek white wall photos, and somehow figure out how to spring Courtney from the GK tour so she can get away from it all for a couple hours.
I am so in need of a break from this weekend.

Maybe he's rich and I should get his number...

One of the sites I used to frequent in my work procrastination was ModBlog over at BMEzine. My white ink chest piece was even featured on it once. I stopped by to check up today after not browsing it for a few months. While I find most of the tattoo work on BMEzine really beautiful, I've never ever been a fan of neck tattoos*. Necks don't usually age well, and I'm a big proponent of people getting tattoos that will look good as you skip on down that path into middle age. But this? I just don't understand why you'd get this as a tattoo. I really hope he's got one hell of a trust fund tucked away somewhere. I totally don't think people should be denied work because they have tattoos (tasteful ones of course) but I wouldn't even hire this guy to mow my lawn**!

* Let the record state (mom) I WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER tattoo my face or neck!
** Let the record state that I don't have a lawn, I have a weird cement patio that extends all the way from the door to the sidewalk.

Timeline for the weekend.

Saturday...
Pick up Kyle from Glamour Kills at the airport
Head to House of Blues to do some portraits for the Glamour Kills tour
Shoot as much of the show as I can
Go up the street to The Roxy for Saint Motel's Black and White homecoming show!
Go back down the street to House of Blues and find the after party
Try my best to avoid drinking anything...

Sunday
Wake up at 6 (IN THE MORNING) to drive to Visalia
Shoot promos for a duo called Fellow as well as their belated wedding photos (Awwwwww!)
Drive all the way back to LA, then to HOB in Anaheim to do live photos for Glamour Kills

SLEEEEEEEP!
Monday
Do another shoot
Take Kyle back to the airport so he can fly home to New York and tell everyone I didn't kill anyone.

Tuesday
Edit until my eyes fall out.

Behind the Scenes in Florida

Here's a little time lapse I made of our Glamour Kills Clothing shoot in Florida

Hey Monday

I photographed Hey Monday for Glamour Kills Clothing the other week in Florida. Here's a pretty good aftershoot screamer from their session.

Tour Managers

While in Florida I had the idea to start a new portrait series. While I work mostly with bands, I wouldn't be able to do so a lot of the time if it weren't for the hardworking people who manage these bands on the road. Too often I feel that people lable tour managers as "jerks" for simply doing their job. They make a living making sure the band is all where they're supposed to be, at the venue, in the bus, as well as making sure the band gets paid and is kept safe. I've been meeting so many great tour managers lately that I feel they deserve their own series in my portfolio. In Fort Lauderdale I had the privilege to begin the series with Duncan and Courtney. Duncan was managing Hey Monday, and was cracking everyone up during our time shooting the band. Courtney on the other hand was someone I met this summer on Warped Tour while she was managing 3oh!3. Without her help there's no way the shoot with the band would have gone so smoothly. She's a badass and a fellow 6' lady, we're going to start a club or something.

Hoodies and squid

We're shooting the new Hide&Seek line today! I'm so excited about all the new goodies! There's a squid shirt!! Our models are all professionals this time too, which will be awesome. One of the guys is from New York and has been in Nylon and Inked, and one of the other girls is a runway model. Taking it up a notch in Hide&Seek land!
Off to snag some snacks for the skinnies, and set up a backdrop.

I want to find this as an MP3...

I love you Rivers, you crazy little man, you.

I survived Florida, All Time Low fans, and test tube shots.

Bleubird!

DANGERCATS!

Friday I flew to Florida on standby (never again) with my friend and fellow photographer Kris Ross to photograph All Time Low, We the Kings, Hey Monday, and Friday Night Boys for Glamour Kills Clothing. While on the trip I met up with indie rapper Bleubird to shoot some portraits, and made fast friends with Beth, Courtney, and Cassadee AKA Dangercats. The Dangercats are the only three women holding down the Glamour Kills Tour and have created quite an intimidating gang, that I was honored to photograph. I love those ladies and can't wait to throw down with them when they make it to the left coast in a week or so.

I want a Boston Terrier

I'm easily amused.

Photographer Dave Shepherd made this pretty amazing time lapse of his tattoo session. I dig.

3oh!3's New Website...

Those dashing gents over at 3oh!3 got a new website and there's quite a bit of my photography hiding out there. Take a look!

The Bled

Today I photographed The Bled in Tucson, AZ for Rise Records. They were absolutely awesome to work with! I know I say it all the time, but they were the nicest dudes ever. Such a fun day!

Where's Megan this week?

Sunday: Taking in Manchester Orchestra not once, but TWO times.
Monday-Wednesday: In Tuscon, Arizona to photograph a little band called The Bled.
Friday-Sunday: Fort Lauderdale, Florida with Mr. Kris M. Ross to photograph All Time Low, We The Kings, Hey Monday, and the Friday Night Boys for Glamour Kills. Also trying to fit in a shoot with the "Mayor" of Indie Hip-Hop, Bleubird
Best week EVER? I think so, I really do.
I'm going to be all over the country this week, and getting paid to do it! Hey Ma, look at me! I'm jet setting!

GOOD THINGS!

This one's for the Los Angeles Department of Motor Vehicles!
So today during my horrid 5 hour nightmare at the LA DMV, I decided to make the most of it and enter 98.7FM's contest to win tickets to see Manchester Orchestra in a private show... over and over and over again.
Well as soon as I returned home, mixed myself a STRONG Bloody Mary, and calmed down I got a call from 98.7 that I had WON! So being stuck at the DMV proved worth the hell, as I get to see one of my favorite bands (see wrist tattoo) TWICE on Sunday! Now the only problem is deciding who I'll take with me... hmmmm....
BIG FAT WOO HOO!

Astronautalis

I was super excited to get the opportunity to photograph Andy Bothwell, AKA Astronautalis, today. He's definitely one of my favorite musicians, and a super nice guy too.
We shot these at the end of my street in the rain. Andy's from Seattle, so I find it pretty amusing that he came down to sunny LA, and had a rainy shoot. But then again I get excited to even shoot with clouds in the sky, so I'm really happy with how these came out.

This Providence

I had the awesome opportunity to work with This Providence after they wrapped filming on their new music video. Super super nice bunch of guys, and really funny. I wish all my shoots went this smoothly!

What a week...

Published in People, photoshoot in Bakersfield, promos for This Providence, set photos for 30 Seconds to Mars, amazing shoot with Drake Bell, booked to shoot The Bled in Tuscon, photoshoot with Astronautalis, shoot for OMGEE! Magazine, and I get to FINALLY see Manchester Orchestra!
It's nice when things start to look up :)

We the Kings

Finally able to release the We the Kings promos I did a few weeks ago!

This is for you Dad

Today we shot a music video for This Providence (check them out!) out next to the Salton Sea. It was the worst smelling, but most beautiful location I've ever had the chance to shoot at. I snapped this while setting up lights for band promos. This place was like a painting!

Sean says, "Don't Forget"

I'm thinking of making this my official stationary... what do you think?

People Magazine...

My photo of 3oh!3 (above) was in the last issue of People Magazine with John Travolta on the cover! I only wish someone had let me know. I walked past it for the last week in stores with no idea my photo was inside. Now it's off the shelves, so if anyone has a copy they'd be willing to part with, I'd really appreciate it. I need it for the magazine tears section I'm working on for my site. My first tabloid haha!

Oh and Kyle took this...

Kyle stole my camera during their shoot and turned it on my sunburned dirty self.

Friends is friends...

In the past year I've had the opportunity to meet some really awesome new friends. Not the least of which are Kyle and David from Breathe Carolina. These guys and their crew are possibly the nicest group of guys I've ever met. I met up with them at their House of Blues show yesterday and spent the whole night catching up in a kitchen and swapping stories. I'm so happy for them and their new found sucess. Love or hate their music, they make it for all the right reasons, and have more fun on stage than most bands. I'm glad I get to call them my friends.

RIP Irving Penn

There's a really great article in the New York Times about Irving Penn's life and work. I just saw his Small Trades series at the Getty this weekend and his work was truly amazing. I don't think people realize how much influence he had in today's fashion and editorial photography. Take a few minutes today to revisit his work in his memory.

Another one surfaces...

This time it was on the Barnes & Nobel site...